But Shane was furious, furious at herself for causing harm to Carmen. Furious that she had put her own anger above everything else. Furious that she flew into a rage over something that a drunk said. But most of all, she was furious at herself for the truth in Dana’s words, that she couldn’t bring herself to meet Carmen’s parents.

“Can we go now? Please Shane.” Carmen called out pleadingly. She wasn’t bothered at all by the huge swollen ankle or her head spinning around. She was focused on only one thing, to get her girlfriend away from Dana and calm her down. Carmen didn’t know what was going through Shane’s head right now, she assumed that Shane was still angry at Dana. The clenched fist was a dead giveaway.

“Shane You bring your girlfriend home now. I’ll drag Dana’s drunken ***** home and Bette, you stay here to clear the mess with Tina.” Kit made a move for her keys as she spoke, realizing that they all needed to disperse now. She took a glance at the drunk Dana, who was already asleep and oblivious to the world and shook her head, proceeding to try and lift the scrawny woman up. But Dana resisted in her stupor and Bette stepped in to help.

“I’ll go with you, Kit. You probably cannot handle Dana yourself.” Bette offered, but Jenny stepped up, “I’ll go, you stay here with Tina and the baby.” Jenny understood that Shane and Carmen might need some alone time and thought that it would be a good idea to stay away for awhile.

“Okay, then I’ll call Alice to see if she is okay.” Bette said, drawing nods of approval around.

“Shane?” Carmen asked again.

Without saying a word, Shane released her clenched fist and stepped forward towards her girlfriend. She carefully gathered Carmen around the waist as she lifted her up, all the while avoiding Carmen’s eyes. Without saying a word or looking at anyone else, Shane slowly guided Carmen out of the back door.

And Carmen, who was trying not to rest too much weight on her injured feet, looked around apologetically, murmuring her thank yous and her goodbyes, making a mental note to apologize to Bette and Tina for ruining the party.

——————————

Upon reaching the kitchen, Shane settled Carmen down at the dining table before looking for medication to ease the swollen ankle. She glided around silently and frantically. Not knowing exactly what she was doing. Her vision was blurred and her head was spinning. She wasn’t sure if it was a physical or a mental thing. When she at last located the medicated rub, she swiftly sat on the floor and guided Carmen’s ankle and set it atop her lap. She began a slow massage on the swollen areas and concentrated hard at not causing her girlfriend more pain.

Concern over the prolonged silence, Carmen knew that Shane was not okay. She saw the erratic behavior when she was looking for the rub, and now the neurotic obsession with the massage indicated that something drastic took place in Shane’s head and it was scaring her.

“Shane?”